Antonio Villaraigosa

LAPD Chief Beck Meet & Greet Tour to Hit the Westside

LAist (Free subscription) | 11/06/2009

AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes The next in a series of community town halls with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, featuring the new LAPD Chief, will be on the Westside next week. On Tuesday when Charlie Beck was chosen , meetings were immediately scheduled for that day in South L.A., followed by one in the Valley on Wednesday and one yesterday in El Sereno. Next week Tuesday, the tour hits Councilman Bill...

First Lady to Preside Over 'Iron Chef' Ep Starring White House Garden

LAist (Free subscription) | 11/05/2009

A student is awed by what she and First Lady Michelle Obama pulled from the garden during last week's harvest (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Here in Los Angeles there is a valued relationship between the food on our plates and the ground from which it comes. From weekly stops at favorite farmers' markets to digging in at a local community garden , the bounty of the land and its role in our eating lives has...

Election Day Round-Up: Gay Marriage in Maine, NYC's Mayor, Etc.

LAist (Free subscription) | 11/04/2009

Patti Garamendi, the wife, of Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, right, celebrates as her husband receives news that he has been declared the winner in California's 10th Congressional District race (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) While elections locally weren't exactly a topic around town, they were nationally and the outcomes are still relevant to Los Angeles and California. One year after Prop 8, which banned...

Behind closed doors, Los Angeles police chief pick was no shoo-in

L. A. Times Dodgers Blog (Free subscription) | 11/04/2009

Beck looked to have the edge from the start. In fact, the opposite was true. When the Los Angeles Police Commission last week gave Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa the names of the finalists for the LAPD chief's job, it was hardly a foregone conclusion that Deputy Chief Charlie Beck would be the eventual winner.

In Beck, Villaraigosa taps a veteran with deep ties to the LAPD

Los Angeles Times (Free subscription) | 11/04/2009

The nominee for chief is supported by both the rank-and-file and civil rights advocates and will take command at a time of uncertainty in the department. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's selection of Charlie Beck to be L.A.'s new police chief elevates a 32-year veteran who is steeped in the traditions of the LAPD but has also won praise from civil rights activists for reforming the department and improving...

• LA mayor to announce pick for new police chief - Miami Herald
• LA mayor to announce pick for new police chief - kansascity.com
• See the 13 articles on the same subject

Pencil This In: About that Famous Toostie Roll Commercial

LAist (Free subscription) | 11/03/2009

Pop Culture Fred Wolf was the man behind the famous Tootsie Roll commercial. You know, “Mr. Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?” Wolf also worked with Frank Zappa on 200 Motels and Peter Yarrow on Puff The Magic Dragon. Tonight (8 p.m.) at Cinefamily ($13), "Animation historian Jerry Beck will present a tribute to Wolf, with rare clips...

Charlie Beck...or Tom Selleck

LAist (Free subscription) | 11/03/2009

New LAPD chief Charlie Beck, left, and Tom Selleck, right. Or was it the other way around? This morning, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced he will tap Deputy Chief Charlie Beck as the newest head of the LAPD. While we all wish him luck, we are simply dumbstruck by the uncanny and positively eerie resemblance to Mr. Magnum, P.I. himself. Coincidence or underhanded push to increase film production...

Villaraigosa to Name New LAPD Chief Tuesday

LAist (Free subscription) | 11/02/2009

Photo by A.C. Thamer via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Yesterday, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa met with all three of the finalists for the position of Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, to replace William Bratton, who surrendered his star this weekend and is moving back to New York to work in the private sector. The three candidates all come from within the LAPD, a consideration...

Villaraigosa wants transit projects on the fast track

L. A. Times Dodgers Blog (Free subscription) | 10/30/2009

The mayor envisions completion in 10 years instead of 30 and makes rail his top priority. His plan would need at least $10 billion in additional funds. If Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has his way, Los Angeles County will soon embark on a commuter rail building boom the likes of which the region has never seen.

Proposed union contract would drastically reduce LAPD overtime costs

L. A. Times Dodgers Blog (Free subscription) | 10/30/2009

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council are backing an 83% cut, a savings of $72 million. Officers would be compensated with more time off or be paid out later. Looking to slash payroll costs in a disastrous budget year, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council have thrown their support behind a new union contract that is designed to cut police overtime costs by 83%.

L.A. police chief choice still exerts pressure on mayor

L. A. Times Dodgers Blog (Free subscription) | 10/30/2009

Though the political perils of such a choice have lessened, Villaraigosa still must replace Chief William Bratton with someone who can continue Bratton's legacy of lowered crime and racial harmony. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will select a new police chief at a time when crime is declining and the city is enjoying a prolonged respite from racial strife, sparing him from the political perils...

Villaraigosa Says 30 Years is too Long to Wait for Transit Projects

LAist (Free subscription) | 10/30/2009

The Gold Line Memorial Park Station in Pasadena | Photo by Alberto Cueto via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa tomorrow is expected to announce his plans in building support for something he calls the "30/10" push to accelerate Measure R transit projects--the voted in half cent sales tax increase--from being completed in 30 years to 10 years. We bask in that vision,...

Race and the LAPD

Kevin Drum - Mother Jones (Free subscription) | 10/28/2009

I don't have a lot to say about this (I don't live in LA and don't know its politics well), but thought it was interesting enough to highlight: The Los Angeles Police Commission forwarded to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday the names of three finalists to become the next police chief -- a list that contained no women or minorities, but sparked little initial criticism. ....In the not-so-distant...

Another member of L.A. pension board resigns

L. A. Times Dodgers Blog (Free subscription) | 10/28/2009

Moctesuma Esparza leaves the board amid more state scrutiny of public employee retirement systems. He is the seventh Mayor Villaraigosa appointee to quit a pension post in the past 6 months. Another pension appointee of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa resigned Tuesday, the seventh to depart in the last six months amid increased scrutiny of the state's public employee retirement systems.

City Council to Engage in Serious Google Talk Today

LAist (Free subscription) | 10/27/2009

Photo by notoriousxl via Flickr On the agenda today for the City Council is consideration of a proposal that will "replace the city government's crash-prone e-mail system with a Google-based application," according to the Daily News . The impetus behind what some view as a costly or belated upgrade is the fact that the system they currently use, GroupWise, is often down and unreliable. In...

L.A. Mayor Urges Peace Between Blacks & Latinos

shugaray | 10/09/2008

L.A. Mayor Urges Peace Between Blacks & Latinos